I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Cemeteries Worth the Visit - Bardstown Cemetery, Bardstown, Kentucky

Location in Kentucky

Bardstown Cemetery

Bardstown
City Cemetery in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky was established in 1852
with land purchased from Joseph Hart and James Doom.The current City Cemetery is comprised of 15.5 acres and
located in the northern section of town.Over 3,100 people are interred here.

Bardstown Cemetery

Fenced Plot

Bardstown
City Cemetery has many interesting and detailed stones.Although few are ‘famous,’ you will
find many that catch your eye.

James B. Beam

James Beam's Marker

One very famous interment is for Colonel James (Jim) Beauregard Beam, grandson
of the man who developed a style of whisky known as Bourbon. Beam was born in
1864 in Kentucky and took over the family business from his father, David
Beam.Despite 13 years of
Prohibition in this country, Beam kept the business profitable, turning it into
a legendary American company. He was integral in the rebuilding of the
distillery in 1933 in Clermont, Kentucky near Bardstown. In 1935 the bourbon
was renamed Jim Beam Bourbon in J.B. Beam’s honor.He died in Kentucky in 1947.

White Bronze Confederate Soldier

Dedication

Bardstown
Cemetery is also known for the white bronze Confederate Soldiers Statue.The memorial is cast from zinc,
standing on a limestone base.The
four side panels show the image of General Robert E. Lee, cannons and
other war artillery.The statue
cost $900 when it was erected in 1903.It stands among the sixty-seven Confederate graves of soldiers
who died during area Civil War battles. Sixty-six of the soldiers died in 1862,
including those at the Battle of Bardstown. Seventeen soldiers are unknown.

Battle of Bardstown

Unknown Soldier

The
Battle of Bardstown occurred on October 4, 1862 between the towns of Bardstown
and Nazareth, on what is now Highway 31 East. Confederate troops had marched into
Bardstown before four Union regiments encircled them.During this battle the Confederates broke free and withdrew
to Perryville.

8th Texas Cavalry

Confederate Graves

During
this battle, the Eighth Texas Cavalry and its leader, Colonel John Wharton, were
stationed at the Fairgrounds, ready to intercept the Union Army.But the Rangers found themselves
confronted by far superior numbers of the First and Fourth Kentucky, the
Fourth Ohio and the Third Indiana Cavalry regiments.The Texas Calvary fought hard and won.It would be called the unit’s finest
hour.The battle is still reenacted
each August in Bardstown.

Confederate Marker

Confederate Soldier

In
May 2000, the Confederate Soldiers Statue was damaged when a tree fell on it
during a storm.The pieces were
shipped to New York and the statue was restored by the Conservation and
Sculpture Company.Restoration cost
was around $50,000 and over 90% of the monument was reconstructed from original
pieces.Two years later the statue
returned to its place of honor in the cemetery.It was listed on the National Registry of Historic
Markers in 1997.

Ben Johnson

Bardstown & St Joseph Cemeteries

St
Josephs’ Cemetery is adjacent to the Bardstown City Cemetery.It has over 4,500 interments, including
U.S. Congressman Ben Johnson.Johnson was born in Bardstown on March 19, 1858 and died there on June
4, 1950.Johnson began as an
attorney in 1882, and then was appointed as a member of the State House of
Representatives in 1885.He served
as Speaker of the House in 1887, and was appointed as a collector of the
Internal Revenue in 1893, a position he held for four years. He served as a
U.S. Congressman from 1907 until 1927.

St Michael Defeating the Devil

Close Up of Statue Base

Another
monument of interest in St Joseph's, is the statue of St Michael defeating the devil.The details and the red
coloring of the statue draws your attention from throughout the cemetery.

Bardstown Cemetery

Statue Descending Steps

Bardstown
City Cemetery is located in the 800 block of North Third Street.Contact Cemetery Sexton Bobbe Blincoe at
(877) 348-5947 for hours and genealogy information.The cemetery does not have a web site.

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